Dredging-bucket.



S. LAKE.

DKBDGING BUCKET. APPLICATION FILED 5111.10. 1913.

Patented Dec. 29, 1914.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

S. LAKE.

DREDGING BUCKET.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 10, 1913.

1,122,769. Patented Dec. 29, 1914.

B SHEETS-SHEET 2.

"NE NORRIS PETFRS c0 PHOTO-LITHFL. WASHINGTON n r S. LAKE.

DREDGING BUCKET.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 10. 1913.

1,1 22,769. Patented Dec. 29, 1914.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

anuemtoz n45 NORRIS PETER: LL! rnuru lu'lrlu. wuanllvLlilJN. u c

S. LAKE.

DREDGING BUCKET.

APPLICATION FILED 3111.10, 1913.

Patented Dec. 29, 1914.

6 SHEETS-SHEBT 4.

S. LAKE.

DRBDGING BUCKET.

APPLICATION II'LED JAN.10. 191s.

Patented Dec. 29. 1914..

6 SHEETSSHEET 5.

THE NORRIS PETERS c0 PHsTaui-m. wnswmr. rmv 0 C 3. LAKE.

DREDGING BUCKET.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.10, 1913.

Patented Dec. 29, 191 i 6 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

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H5 NORRIS PETERS CO., FHOTOVLITHI'V WASHING mm, 0. r

I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SIMON LAKE, 01 MILFORD, CONNECTICUT.

DBEDGING-BUCKET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

' Patented Dec. 29, 1914.

Application filed January 10, 1913. Serial No. 741,310.

ball whom it may concern:

Be'it known that I, SIMON LAKE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Milford, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dredging- Buckets, of which the following is a specification.

The object of the invention is to provide a simple, strong and durable dredging bucket of the clam-shell type, having abutting cutting edges particularly adapted for use in rocky and sandy localities, and in which the bucket segments or opposed scoop sections may be permitted to drop at their outer ends after the inner cutting edges of said segments have been drawn together with the bottoms of the segments in a substantially horizontal plane and the bucket loaded, so that the material loaded into the bucket segments will not run or be washed out as the bucket is hoisted, in the event of an obstruction being caught between the cutting edges of the segments, which would prevent the complete closing of the bucket, the arrangement of the closing lines and levers being such that greater closing power is exerted upon the segments with less expenditure of energy than has been possible in buckets of this class heretofore constructed.

The invention comprises certain details of construction, combinations and arrange ments of parts as will be hereinafter fully described and then particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating the invention, in the several figures of which like parts are similarly designated, Figure 1 is a side view of the bucket in partly open position. Fig. 1 is a similar view on a reduced scale, the bucket being shown in its extreme open position. Fig. 2 is a side view of the bucket in closed position. Fig. 3 is a top plan view, the closing arms or levers being broken away. Fig. I is a side view of the bucket showing the outer ends of the bucket segments dropped below their meeting edges. Fig. 5 is a horizontal section drawn on a larger scale on the line A.A of Fig. 1, the closing arms or levers being omitted. Fig. 6 is a vertical longitudinal section of the bucket in the position shown in Fig. 4:. Fig. 7 is an end view of the bucket in the position shown in- Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a horizontal section on a larger scale, drawn on the line B-B of Fig. 4, the bucket segments and their tilting arms being omitted. Fig. 9 is a detail section drawn on the line CC of Fig. 8. Fig. 10

is a side view of the bucket, illustrating a slightly different form of bucket segments,

. and a means for locking the sliding sleeve are pivotally connected adjacent to their inner lower ends at 2 to the lower ends of closing arms or levers 3 which are keyed or otherwise made fast at their opposite or upper ends to the outer ends of transverse rock shafts i mounted in brackets 5 extending from the opposite sides and from the upper end of the head 6. The lower ends of the arms or levers 3 are forked as at 7, Fig. 7, to straddle the inner ends of the sides of the bucket segments.

In order to cause the arms or levers 3 to work together and .to transmit the closing power from one arm to the other and therefore to cause the bucket segments to be moved equal distances on each side of the vertical center of the bucket proper, I provide each rock shaft 4 with a rack segment 8 each of which meshes with the other on the adjacent ends of the shafts i, the said segments being keyed on the said shafts preferably back of the arms or levers 3, as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 7.

The head 6 is hollow, and by preference comprises a tubular casting the upper end of which is enlarged to provide an annular shoulder 6, and in the lower end of the tubular casting is fitted and securely fas-- tened the tubular section of a casting, 9, having open slots on each side thereof and outwardly extending ears or lugs 9' projecting from its lower end at each side of said slots. In each pair of ears 9 is mounted a shaft 10 each carrying. a guide sheave 11 over which operate hoisting cables 12 which extend up through the head 6. y The low-er ends of thee-ables 12 are wound upon and secured to grooved pulleys 18 keyed upon.

. or levers '3 with their "reduced ends extend ing through said arms and threaded to receive securing nuts'17f. By'this construction the arms 3 are prevented from being clamped against the ends of the hollow shafts 14 when the nuts are brought 'up on the 'ends'of the shafts or rods 15. 1

The upper ends of the cables 12 may be spliced together to form a' single cable extending to'a hoisting drum (not shown) in the usual manner. Upon theopposite ends ofthe hollow shafts 14- are mounted a fast sheave 19 and a loose sheave 18, the fastand loose sheaves, respectively, being arranged at diagonally opposite ends of the shafts, and to the arms or levers 3 adjacent to each fast sheave is connected one end of a cable 17 each of which is extended over the opposite loose sheave 18 and thence back and around the opposite fast sheave 19 for several turns and has itsend made fast to said sheaves in any suitable 'manner. By this arrangement it will be evident that as a lifting strain is applied to the hoisting cables '12 a rotary movement will, be im parted to the pulleys 13, as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 1, which will revolve the fast pulleys 19 and'wind the cables 17 thereon to thus draw together the arms or levers 3 and the attached bucket segments 1 to close the bucket. By arranging the cables 17 at the ends of the shafts it will be apparent that the strain on the arms or levers 3 is applied substantially in line with the swing' ing-movement of said 'arms'and also that an 7 even pul-l is applied to each side of the bucket. For greater closing power, additional loose pulleys or sheaves may be mounted on the shafts for multiplying the cable leads and consequently increasing the closing power of the bucket. Guards 20 bolted or otherwise secured to the arms 3' and extending over the'rims of thepulleys l8'andfl9'serve to prevent the cables 17 from jumping out ofthe grooves of the pulleys- I Slidingly mounted upon the tubular body portion of the head"6,'between the shoulder .6 and'the castingf9, isa sleeve 21having diametrically located studs 22 extending from the7front and rear sides thereof upon each otwliich are hung two downwardly extending arms'23'thelower ends of which efpj vbfiedfbetw ee ck 2. s wed ltb the tops of thebucket segments 1. the arms being arranged in pairs with one arm of each pair extending to the opposite seg-.

ments. Intermediate their ends the arms of each pair are connected by a toggle joint 24-.

whose pivotal centers are connected by a 1 common shaft or pin 25 upon which is held a sleeve or collar726 having an upwardly" extending ear to which is connected, by a T cable 28 which extends up through the he d shackle 27, the lower end of an opening 6 "to the usual winding drum (not shown but commonly employed in dredging apparatus). As is "usual a counterbalance weight (not shown but also commonly'employed in dredging apparatlls) is connected to the drum in. the usual manner to'automatically' take up the slack in the opening cable when the bucket is hoiste and also 1 to open and holdopen the bucket when the lifting strain:

on the'hoislting cablesis released. In prac tic'e such' counterbalanceweight should be made only sutficientlyheavy to over balance the arms 23 and theirconnections, and' the Y The meeting edges of the bucket segouter ends of the bucket segments.

ments are reinforced by cutting edges 29 of 8 suitable material, which extendacross the bottoms of the sections andfpartly up'their; sides above the pivotal points 2 so as to provide a larger bearing for the pivot pins and to transmit the strain to the bottoms of the bucket segments imposed on the sides when the segments'are forced through the material being dredged. The lowerv abut:

ting edges of the sides of the cutting pieces are formed with semicircular sections 30' which ride aga nst each other when the seg;

ments are allowedto drop from the, substanf tially horizontal position shown in 2 to the position shown in Fig. 4.

So far as. described theoperation -of the bucket is as follows? In open position the bucket is supported partly byqthe closing. 1 and hoisting cables 12 and'partl'yby the opening cable 28, enough strain being held on the closing and hoisting cables to hold 3 or lowered into contact with the surface to the bucket e vated. The bucket is dropped 11 usual counterbalance weight, the strain will come onthe toggles which will elevate theirpivotal centers and thusforce the lower] ends of the arms23 and the levers 3 outwardly and thus hold the bucket in open position.,f As indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 1

when the bucket is in its extreme open posi 'tion" the segments 1 are turned on their. pivots 2 so that theirbottom cutting edges will be outof alinementw'ith andbeyond their pivotal centers. 2. which throws the I weight o fthe segmentsagainstthearms 23 I. with the sliding collar 21 against the;

shoulder 6 of the head 6 and is thus positively held in open position when resting on the surface. Now when the closing and hoisting cables 12 are hauled in by being wound upon the usual hoisting drums in the usual manner, the bottom cutting edges will be first scraped over the material and through the weight of the bucket caused to dig down into the surface, and as they continue to move toward each other, the outer ends of the segments will be gradually lowered or forced downwardly by the arms 23 so that their cutting edges will be brought into proper position to easily cut into the material being dredged. After the segments have been drawn together, with the bottoms of the segments in substantial horizontal alinement, as shown in Fig. 2, a continuation of the hoisting strain will lift the segments from the surface, when their weight, combined with the weight of the material therein, will cause their outer ends to drop and thus bring the bottoms of the segments out of horizontal position or alinement to the position shown in Fig. 4;, until the sleeve 21 brings up against the upper end of the casting 9 at the lower end of the head 6, which arrests the movement of the sleeve and the dropping movement of the outer ends of the segments, it being understood that as the outer ends of the segments drop, the sleeve will be drawn down on the head, then as the cables are further hoisted the bucket will be lifted in the usual manner. In dumping the bucket, the tension on the cables 1-2 is released enough to throw the strain on the opening cable 28, the weight of the bucket then coming on the cable 28 effecting an upward pulling strain on the toggles which will raise their pivotal centers and thus force the arms 23 and the levers 8 outwardly at their lower ends and consequently open the bucket, and owing to the location of the pivotal points of the arms 23 to the segments, the outer ends of the segments will be elevated as the bucket is opened so that the material in the segments may easily drop out. It will thus be seen that the operation of the bucket is exceedingly simple, and that by connecting the levers 6, either through the segmental gears 8, Figs. 1, 2, S, and l or through the levers l1 and links -12, Fig. 12, that the upper pivotal shafts i will always be maintained in parallel relation to the lower pivotal centers 2 of the segments 1., thus causing the segments to be opened equi-distantly on each side of the head 6 irrespective of the pull upon the cables 1'2 which always brings the cutting edges of the segments together in alinement irrespective of the inclination of the bucket.

I do not wish tolimit myself to the employment of the segmental gears 8 for causing the arms or levers 3 to be moved through corresponding arcs as they may be coupled to each other for this purpose with equal efiectiveness by links as shown in Figs. 12 and 13. In this construction, I provide the upper end of the head 6 with oppositely disposed, downwardly extending brackets l0, to the lower end of each of whi h is pivoted, intermediate its ends, a rock lever ll the ends of which are connected by links to the opposite levers 3 on the respective sides of the head 6. As shown in dotted lines in Fig. 12, as one arm or lever 3 is moved outwardly the lever 14 will be rocked through its connection with the lever 3 to thus push the opposite lever 3 outwardly through a corresponding arc. In this construction the brackets l0 are spaced a suitable distance from the cylindrical body of the head 6 to permit the sleeve 21 to ride upon the head. I

If it should be desired to operate the bucket in the same manner as the ordinary clam shell bucket, as for example when working in certain soils or when handling coal, gravel or like materials, 1 may permanently hold the sleeve .21 at the upper end of the head when the bucket is hoisted so as to prevent the outer ends of the segments from dropping as previously described. In this construction, shown in Fig. 10, the sleeve is locked at the upper end of the head 6 by a pin passed through the head under the lower end of the sleeve. When the bucket is thus used, I purpose extending the sides of the segments inwardly as at 50, so that they will come together the entire height of the segments when the bucket is closed. It will be readily understood that by locking the sleeve to the upper end of the head, the outer ends of the segments will be prevented from dropping as the bucket is hoisted, as is permitted when the sleeve is allowed to slide upon the head.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I provide an exceedingly simple, strong, durable and easily handled bucket of the class described that will be found particularly advantageous in gold dredging when operating on river beds and in sandy and rocky materials and in places where logs and tree branches exist. In such places, obstructions are often caught between the meeting edges of the segments and prevent them from coming together so that an opening between the segments is left, which allows the contents of the bucket to drop out or be washed out as the bucket is hoisted. By allowing the outer ends of the segments to drop a certain distance and by extending the bottoms thereof around over their outer ends and partly over their tops, I provide a construction which will positively hold the greater portion of the load even should the meeting edges of the buckets be spaced a considerable distance apart.

opposed bucket segments, a support therefor, and means connecting said segments with said support to cause the cutting edges of said segments to abut, with the bottoms of the segments in a substantially horizontal position when the bucket is closed, and to permit the outer ends of said segments to drop. out of the horizontal position and be v LC low the meetmg cutting edges or the segments when the bucket is hoisted, said means serving to limit the dropping movement ofsaid outer ends.

In a dredging bucket, the combination with two bucket segments having abutting cutting edges, of a head to which said segments are connected, and means carried by the head connected to said segments to permit the outer ends of said segments to drop below their meeting edges when the bucket is hoisted.

t. In a dredging bucket, the combination with two bucket segments, of a head to which said segments are connected, opening arms slidably connected with said head and pivotally connected to said bucket segments, hoisting cables connected to said bucket, andan opening cable operatively connected to said opening arms.

5. In a dredging bucket, the combination with two bucket segments, a head and closing levers pivotally connecting said segments with said head, of opening arms vertically movable on said head and connectedto said bucket segments and adapted to cause the outer ends of said segments to drop below their meeting edges when the bucket is hoisted, hoisting cables connected to the closing levers, and an opening cable operatively connected to said opening arms.

6. In a dredging bucket, the combination with two bucket segments, of a head, closing arms or levers carried by the head and pivot-ally connected to said segments, means connecting the said arms or levers of the opposed segments to cause them to be moved through corresponding arcs when the bucket is opened and closed, opening arms slidably carried by said head and connected to each segment, an opening cable operatively connected to said opening arms, cables connected to the bucket.

7. In a dredging bucket, the combination and hoisting with two bucket segments, of a 'head, clos-- ing arms carried by the head and pivotally connected to said segments, pulleys carried by the closing arms oi each SEgIIlGIlQlIOISting cables connected to said pulleys, closing means connecting the arms of the opposed; carried by:

segments, opening arms slidably said head and connected to said segments,

said arms serving to tilt said segments when the bucket is in open; position, and an openin cable operatiyely connected to'sai'd opening arms. I v

8. In a dredging bucket, the'combination with two bucket segments, of a head, closing arms carried by said head and pivotally con-' nected to said segments, a pulley rotatably;

carried by and between the arms of each" segment, a' hoisting cable'connected to each pulley, means connecting the arms of the opposed segments'o-perableby the rotat1on or' said pulleys to close the bucket, opening arms slidably carried by said head and con-y nected to said bucket segments, and an open ing cable operatively connected to said opening arms.

9. In a dredging bucket, the combination with two bucket segments, of a head, closing;

arms carried by said head and pivotally connected to said segments adjacent to their inner ends, a pulley rotatably carried by and between the arms of each segment, a hoisting cable wound upon and connected to each pulley, means connecting the arms of the opposed segments and operable by the rotation of said pulleys to close the bucket, opening arms slidably carried by said head and pivotally connected to each bucket segment, said arms serving to tilt the bucket segments when in open position, and to permit the outer ends of said segments to drop below their inner meeting edges and also to limit the dropping movement thereof when the I bucket is hoisted, and an opening cable operatively connected to said opening arms.

10. In a dredging bucket, the combination with two bucket segments, of a head, a pair of closing arms ournaled upon the head and pivotally connected to said bucket segments,

unison,a pulley rotatably carried by and be: tween each pair of arms, a hoistingcable connected to each pulley, opening arms carried by and movable vertically on said head and pivotally connected to said segments,

toggles connecting the opening arms of the opposed segments, and an opening cable connected to said toggles.

12. In a dredging bucket, the combination with two bucket segments, of a tubular head, closing arms journaled upon each side of the head and connected to said segments, a pulley rotatably carried by and between the arms of each segment, a hoisting cable wound upon and connected to each pulley, a sleeve mounted to slide on said tubular head, opening arms pivoted at one end to said sleeve and at their opposite ends to said segments, toggles connecting the opening arms of the opposed segments, an opening cable connected to said toggles, and means connecting the closing arms of the opposed segments and operable by the rotation of said pulleys for closing the bucket.

13. In a dredging bucket, the combination with two bucket segments, of a tubular head, a pair of closing arms journaled on each side of said head and pivotally connected to said segments, a shaft connecting each pair of closing arms, a hollow shaft mounted on each of the first mentioned shafts, a pulley keyed on each hollow shaft, a fast and a loose sheave carried by each hollow shaft, a cable connected to one of each pair of closing arms adjacent to said fast sheaves and extended over the oppositely disposed loose sheaves and thence back and around said fast sheaves and their ends secured thereto, a vertically movable sleeve arranged on said tubular head, a pair of diverging opening arms pivoted to the opposite sides of said sleeve having their lower ends pivoted to the opposed bucket segments, toggles connecting each pair of opening arms, and an opening cable connected to said toggles.

1a. In a dredging bucket, the combination with two bucket segments, of a tubular head, closing arms carried by said head and connected to said segments adjacent to their inner ends, a closing means therefor, comprising a pulley carried by each pair of closing arms, a hoisting cable wound upon each pulley having its end made fast to its respective pulley, and means connecting the arms of the opposed segments and operable by the rotation of said pulleys for closing said arms and said bucket segments, and opening arms movable vertically on said tubular head, and pivotally connected to said bucket segments.

15. In a dredging bucket, the combina tion with two bucket segments, of a tubular head, transverse shafts journaled upon opposite sides of said head, closing arms on the ends of said shafts having their opposite ends pivotally connected to said segments, intermeshing segmental gears keyed upon said shafts on each side of said head, hoisting cables connected to said bucket, opening arms slidably supported by said head and pivotally connected to said segments, toggles connected to said opening arms, and an opening cable connected to said toggles.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 9th day of January, A. D. 1913.

SIMON LAKE.

Witnesses:

C. E. ADAMS, M. D. BLONDEL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of I'atents, Washington, D. G. 

